For testing days I rearrange my desks into rows unless I’m giving a collaborative test, in which case I group the desks accordingly. You will want to make enough copies of the exam for all of your students before class. I’ve found that I always seem to have one or two students who begin any exam by writing and/or sketching on it extensively, then ask for a “clean” copy to put their answers on. Fortunately my testing procedures address this issue early in the year, so I don’t have to deal with it by this exam. I establish testing procedures at the beginning of the year, so by this unit students know what to expect and I don’t need to spend extra time on basic procedures. You can see how I set this up in my strategies folder or in my first week lesson titled ****. As students come in the door I remind them they will need their calculators for this test. After the tardy bell, I hand out the exam and ask the students to look it over and raise their hand if they have any questions. Sometimes there is confusion about either wording or a sketch, so I clarify as needed. I’m not the best artist, even with clipart and shapes. I say that I will tell them when they have 10 minutes left in class and encourage them to do their best, (MP1, MP2, MP4, MP5, MP6) reminding them that this is the same material we’ve been studying for the past two weeks. This assessment does not include specific fluency or skills questions for two reasons. First, I believe I address those through informal formative assessments throughout the lessons and second because fluency and skills are needed to complete the application problems. You may choose to include a section of more traditional problems (perhaps taken from your textbook) in addition to the application problems.

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There really isn’t much closure for the end of an exam other than to collect the papers and assure the students that you will have them graded asap. I often ask how my students how they think they did to get a feel for their confidence relative to what I see when I score the tests. The answer key includes multiple ways that students might arrive at the correct answers, some possible mistakes, and an explanation of why each problem was selected.